Among smokers, it is Cuban cigars that are most valued. Their legendary taste and unique aroma can easily be felt by smoking Havana tobacco. It, like any Cuban tobacco, contains high nicotine indicators, and its organoleptic is unique, making the Havana variety ideal for making tobacco blends, you can feel its originality by smoking a pipe or a cigarette, you can chew it, but its main purpose is to make it cigars.

History and Description of the Havana Tobacco Variety

Havana tobacco was introduced to Cuba from Mexico; it is a hybrid of the Nicotiana tabacum family. This variety is known since the 19th century under the name Havanas (Habanos), and is a direct descendant of the cultures that Columbus discovered more than 500 years ago.Havana bush grows 160–180 cm tall. The stem is powerful, branched with alternating leafless leaves up to 80 cm long, smooth, tarry. Pink flowers are grouped on top of the stems. The fortress depends on the place of growth and on the part of the bush from which the leaf was torn.

Assortment of tobacco

Cigars are elite tobacco products, and different types and types of tobacco are used to make them.

Did you know? Prices for the cheapest Havana cigars start at $ 5, and the most expensive was sold for $ 1,150.

Havana 142

Havana 142 belongs to the classics group and goes for smoking in a pipe and a cigarette, another purpose is chewing tobacco. Bred in 1958 in the USA, the basis was the original Cuban variety Criollo. The plant reaches 1.5 m, the leaves are long and wide. Maturation in the subtropics is record-breaking short - 55–65 days, and in a temperate climate Havana reaches technical ripeness by the end of summer.Although the plant has a tropical origin, the variety is quite frost-resistant, can withstand temperatures up to -3 ° C and is unpretentious in cultivation, which is popular among tobacco growers around the world. If properly dried and fermented, then it turns out to be of medium strength. It is exclusively subject to shadow drying, while it acquires a red-brown color. In the production of Havana 142, it is used as a binder sheet, but both good filler and coating come out of it, if grown in the shade.

Important! Havana 142 has been tested for cultivation in our climate.

Havana z992

Dark tobacco, used for pipes, cigars, chewing tobacco. It is practically not used in cigarettes, it suits lovers to experience something new in smoke - lightness and almond notes, has a complex aroma.The nicotine content is relatively low (life), the bush is medium, the yield is high. Height up to 1.5 m, pink flowers, seeds - small. The variety is medium late, ripening in the homeland, in Cuba, is 65 days, and in a temperate climate it spets by autumn.

Important! The Havana variety z992 has a high resistance to tobacco diseases.

Canadian Havana

Canadian Havana is a fragrant variety. Used as a binder sheet, but also suitable for filling. If the bush has grown in the shade, then it can also be used as a cover sheet. The culture reaches a height of up to 180 cm, its feature is that it is resistant to different climatic conditions. Canadian Havana is used primarily in cigars.

Havana Gold

Havana Gold gave the name of the tobacco variety the color - when the leaves ripen, it turns yellow-green. Due to its deep, strong aroma and almond smoky taste, smoke is especially appreciated in the USA, where it is used for pipes and for chewing. The cigar goes for cover and a binder sheet.

Did you know? Unripe leaves rise in the evening, and mature leaves — no, because they are getting heavier.

A bush 150-170 cm tall has thick and juicy corrugated, wrinkled, tarry leaves with a width of 25 cm and a length of more than 60 cm. On average, there are 17 pieces suitable for tobacco. Flowers have a sweet aroma, pink, funnel-shaped.The ripening period is 69 days, so when growing it is important to plant the crop in the soil in a timely manner. It is immune to most diseases. It is preferable to grow in a sunny place, the plant is drought tolerant and likes moderate watering.

Tobacco growing at home

Tobacco is grown exclusively in seedlings in heated greenhouses and hotbeds. Seedlings are replaced annually. Composition of the mixture: 2 parts of warm manure, 1 part of sand and 2 parts of fertile soil with acidity from 5.5 to 7.5.

Step-by-step instructions for sowing seeds:

1. Preparation of the soil mixture.
2. Mixing seeds with sand, fine sawdust, dry soil.
3. Uniform scattering of seeds on the surface of the soil.

Video: planting tobacco seeds

An alternative method of sowing seeds with water: the seeds are poured into a watering can, and when irrigated, they are evenly distributed over the bed. In order for the seedlings to be friendly, it is necessary, in the first 10–15 days, to adhere to 80% moisture in the upper soil layer, which is achieved by 2-3-fold irrigation. Sprouts can die if humidity drops to 40%.

Actions to preserve moisture and from flushing seeds:

• mulching the soil with sawdust, peat, sand, straw;
• shelter with a film or cloth;
• pour straw or dried grass on the beds.

In the period of growth in nurseries, in addition to watering, it is necessary to weed the ground and feed the bushes in the required proportions with mineral fertilizers and treat the plants from diseases. In Cuba, Havana is traditionally planted according to the 90 × 25 cm pattern. Further, care depends on the type of tobacco.Seedlings are planted in open ground after 35-60 days, when it reaches a height of 15 cm with 4-6 leaves

Features of tobacco care at home

Tobacco is a predominantly moisture-loving plant, but each species has its own growing characteristics: one is suitable for shade, the other is a sunny place, some varieties are drought tolerant, and others need daily watering. Although most hybrid varieties are immune to diseases, bushes need phytosanitary treatment. It is also necessary to remove stepsons. This is done gradually, in 2-3 doses.

Watering

Watering plants is carried out according to the variety:

• Havana 142, Havana z992 - hygrophilous, it is necessary to monitor the moisture of the soil, but not to overfill, so that the earth does not block;
• Canadian Havana needs moderate watering;
• Havana Gold is a drought-tolerant plant; it can die with excessive watering.

Top dressing

In order to successfully grow a bush, it must be properly fed. The first top dressing is 7-10 days after planting in the ground. Fertilizer is used complex, with a high nitrogen content, for example, urea (1 tbsp. L. Is mixed in 10 l of water and watered under the root). During ripening, fertilizing is done with fertilizers with a high content of potassium and phosphorus. The second top dressing - 15 days after the first, the third - a week later.

Important! Top dressing is done in the evening, when direct sunlight does not fall no plant.

Weeding

In order to destroy weeds, the beds must be weeded. Weeding must be done carefully so as not to damage the roots. If the plantation is large, then herbicides can be used. On tobacco, drugs such as Stomp, Devrinol, and Dual are used in the dosage indicated on the label.

Diseases and Pests

The most common diseases and pests of tobacco:

Also, tobacco can be affected by flowering parasites (broomrape and dodder). Nonparasitic diseases include tanning due to improper application of fertilizers and frost.

The main methods of struggle:

• disinfection of soil and seeds;
• exclusion of thickening of crops;
• moderate watering;
• compliance with the temperature regime;
• preventive spraying of seedlings;
• weed and disease vector control.

Prevention and timely cure of bushes gives a guarantee for a high quality crop.

Tobacco collection and processing

Tobacco processing consists of several stages:

1. Cleaning.
2. Drying.
3. Languor.

Tobacco leaf matures, starting from the lower tier. It becomes bumpy, dense and sticky; a yellow border appears on the tobacco leaves of the Havana cultivars. Harvested in the morning or evening, when it has less moisture.Fermentation is needed to improve flavor, appearance, flammability and change the chemical composition of tobacco. It reduces excessive strength, tobacco loses some of the bitterness and becomes softer. The conditions for Havana fermentation are temperature +50 ... + 55 ° C, humidity 60–70%.

Fermentation methods:

1. Whole sheets are placed in jars and put in an oven with a temperature of + 55 ° C (batteries can be used during the heating season).
2. Drying in the sun in a polyethylene sleeve (containers with water are placed in the sleeve and must be ventilated every few days).
3. The most common way of fermentation is to leave the tobacco to lie for a year, and after this time it will get the taste and aroma it is supposed to.

In tobacco growing, there are 4 types of drying of tobacco leaves:

1. Sunny.
2. Aerial.
3. Fire
4. Artificial.

Did you know? The older the Havana leaf, the better its quality, subject to airtight storage.

Tobacco is dried (it is considered dry when the central vein has completely dried), and the dried green leaves are discarded. Growing tobacco at home is a troublesome business, but even a Cuban cigar lover will enjoy smoking cigars of their own production.